My birthday at the African Fashion Week!

African Fashion Week London is a celebration of African design talent and the diverse ethnic influences that contribute to fashion in the UK. This exciting event champions new and emerging designers who are inspired by the rich culture of Africa and incorporate this heritage into contemporary design. Top designers were showcasing collections on the catwalk including British designer Ade Bakare from Nigeria and Adama Paris from Senegal, whose designs are popular in New York city and Tokyo boutiques.



The 8th of August was my birthday. As I had a day-off,  I chose to

attend this AFWL show at Olympia with Grace from Kenya. Luckily we arrived early as the queue was already halfway down the road from the doors. Using our free passes from FOCUS, we finally got in, and were amazed to see how big the hall was, with the catwalk in the centre, photographers already setting up, stallholders all round the hall displaying their wares in the best way to attract the crowd. Already crowds were shuffling to see the different, colourful African fabricated handbags, shoes, jewellery, headscarves to get the best purchases and bargains.


The show started at 2pm and we were lucky to
be seated at the aisle on the second row, thus enabling us to take pictures.  Each designer showed their talents on the models, parading down the catwalk, with cheers from the crowd. The loudest cheers, wolf whistles and clapping was for the warrior man, bare top, wearing a bow tie with shorts, and again at the end when he came out with the designer. There were various designers for each showing, and their designs ranged from casual, office-wear, day and

evening, and amazed everyone with the brilliance of their designs. The show lasted 45 minutes, with all the models dancing on the catwalk at the end, in time with the huge applause from the crowd. We were told that the next showing would be in 2 hours, but in the meantime, there were demonstrations by the vendors of their clothing – how to wear it, how to tie the various headscarves, more shopping, food and drinks for the hungry. Free magazines, samples for hair products, including fresh organic food were also being handed out, and I left the show laden with all these freebies.


Unfortunately, I could not stay for the next show as I had arranged to have tea with my sister and later  a scrumptious Turkish dinner with other friends and family. It was a good way to enjoy my birthday despite the heavy rain at the end!!

Written by Irene Kuan. Irene is Director of Finance at FOCUS.

For more information about FOCUS visit:  www.focus-info.org

‘All the world’s a stage…’

 

Summer in England is always an eventful experience for an expat: there is so much to do, so much to see and discover…

I was recently invited to Oxford to a theatre play… 'A surprise !  You’ll see'  was all I was told when I enquired. I therefore boarded the « Oxford tube » - a coach – and off I went.

London-Oxford is very well connected, either by train or coach;  with coaches leaving every 10 minutes, 24 hours a day, it makes a day trip back and forth very easy, comfortable, without too much organisation or planning in advance.  Oxford has almost become a London suburb !

Once in Oxford and after wandering in the old streets, I was taken to the beautiful gardens of Wadham College*, one of Oxford’s largest colleges, famous for its gardens, both aesthetic and eclectic, notable for their collection of trees and curiosities from the past - mainly sculptures.

I then found out that the theatre play, Shakespeare's 'As you like it', was an outdoor performance.  Of course my first reaction was to scrutinise the sky in search of these tiny, lovely clouds which always turn themselves into black and threatening ones ! 

This outdoor production was from the Oxford Shakespeare Company**, which has been performing in the breathtaking setting of Wadham College Gardens for 12 years.  A second source of amazement was that no stage could be seen:  the whole garden was the stage!

Like all spectators, we sat down in a perfectly cut lawn and first sipped what is undoubtedly the most popular cocktail for summer garden parties in England :  Pimm’s – what else ?  The actors suddenly appeared from every corner  and the magic started !  The public enjoyed the first act in a most relaxed way :  sitting or even lying in the grass.  After the interval which coincided with a magnificent sunset, we were invited to stand and move to another part of the garden where chairs had been placed for the spectators. We stayed there until the end of the play when night replaced dusk and tiny garden lamps were lit.

This play was indeed a great choice for a summer evening in Oxford :  full of characters - portrayed with an amazing talent by the very few actors - plots, witty dialogue, romantic action, tremendous enthusiasm and exuberance, songs and music and... a happy ending!   We all sang, clapped, laughed, vibrated with the performers!  We could have stayed all night in these beautiful, timeless surroundings… A true English mid-summer night’s dream for expats eager to understand more about English culture and heritage !

*Wadham college: www.wadham.ox.ac.uk
**Oxford Shakespeare Company: www.oxfordshakespearecompany.co.uk

Written by Florence Tilkens.  Florence is Social Media and Marketing Manager at FOCUS.

For more information please visit www.focus-info.org